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Welcome to the MoFo Tech Blog

MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

July 06, 2018 - European Union, Telecommunications
Digital Single Market Update: Revision of the European Union’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive
By: Kristina Ehle
The European Union’s legislators have reached an agreement on the revision of the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The reform aims at providing a uniform legal and market framework for different types of video streaming services provided via the Internet, and a more
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June 25, 2018 - Intellectual Property, European Union
Copyrights, Internet: YouTube Decision May Obligate Content Check on Upload
By: Christiane Stuetzle and Christoph Wagner
On June 6, 2018, the Commercial Court of Vienna decided in favor of private broadcaster Puls4 and determined that YouTube qualified as directly liable for copyright infringing video uploads of its users. If maintained, the decision would obligate YouTube (and indirectly other major online
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June 25, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security
U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Location Information Is Protected by the Fourth Amendment
By: Robert S. Litt
In a widely anticipated decision, the Supreme Court held 5-4 that the government must obtain a warrant to acquire customer location information maintained by cellular service providers, at least where that information covers a period of a week or more. The case, Carpenter v. United
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June 19, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security, Artificial Intelligence, European Union
If Algorithms Take Over Routine Work, This Also Kills our Expertise
By: Lokke Moerel
In this opinion piece, Morrison & Foerster Senior of Counsel Lokke Moerel challenges current predictions of the ways in which Artificial (AI) Intelligence is going to transform our jobs. Drawing a parallel with how using sat nav systems has impacted our navigation skills, she
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June 19, 2018 - Blockchain, Financings, Fintech, Mergers + Acquisitions
The Journey from Security to Non-Security: SEC Director Comments on Mutability of Token Treatment
By: Spencer D. Klein, Alfredo B. D. Silva and Mark S. Wojciechowski
Many in the blockchain and cryptocurrency community were in a celebratory mood on June 14, 2018, following a landmark speech given by William Hinman, Director for the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Director Hinman’s remarks addressed,
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June 14, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security, European Union
Why controllers are accountable for automatic decision making under the GDPR
By: Lokke Moerel and Marijn Storm
The GDPR explicitly requires controllers to inform individuals of decisions made about them by automated or artificially intelligent algorithmic systems. The controller must inform the individual up front about the existence of the decision making activity, as well as provide information about its underlying
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June 12, 2018 - Financings, Fintech
Cashing in on a New Customer Base
In this article, Jake M. Robson and Nick Davies highlight how joint ventures or strategic M&A can often be the most effective way to roll out and scale up a fintech product offering in multiple jurisdictions in southeast Asia. The article was first published
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May 30, 2018 - European Union
European Commission Presents Digital Tax Package
By: Jens-Uwe Hinder and Jenny Broekmann-Friese
On March 21, 2018, the European Commission proposed new rules for the taxation of digital activities and digital business models in the EU (‘digital tax package’). If these rules are implemented, numerous European and non-European companies would have to pay a 3% tax on
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May 23, 2018 - Regulatory
Revised CFIUS Bill Receives Unanimous Approval in House and Senate Committees; Increases Export Controls for “Critical Technologies”
Legislation that would substantially overhaul the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) received unanimous committee approvals in the House and Senate today. The proposed legislation (known as “FIRRMA,” for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018)
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May 21, 2018 - Artificial Intelligence, European Union
The EU’s Strategy for AI Investment
By: Alistair Maughan and Sana Ashcroft
The European Union has laid out a strategy to promote the growth of Artificial Intelligence technology in Europe. As so often with EU initiatives, the initiatives designed to implement the strategy are long on vision but short on specific practical changes. EU-based entities will
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